Creative Corner: World Cup watching in nature, the 'Hidden Match' and WeMite just go and win it

First of all, I am entirely guilty of letting football completely hijack this column over the past couple of weeks.

And I’m wincing slightly as I type this, because this week’s edition is unashamedly football-themed, too.

In my defence, the sheer mountain of brilliant tournament creative out there right now is just too good to leave on the bench. For anyone currently battling severe sports fatigue, hang in there. Next week we are staging an intervention, medicating the football fever, and stepping out of the bubble completely. Consider this your official warning, Paul. For now, here are three campaigns that genuinely earned their spot.

Marmite comforts and champions the homesick away crowd

Messing with a brand's logo on packaging is always a massive gamble (not least because it can be an awkward shot at relevance) but adam&eveDDB and TBWA’s decision to rename the nation’s most divisive spread to WeMite is a brilliant play grounded in a very real truth.

Anyone who has ever travelled abroad, as fans are currently doing in their droves for the tournament, knows that it’s not just British teabags you can yearn for; outside of Vegemite (no comment), there really is no alternative for a lashing of the glossy, dark-brown comfort blanket we love to hate.

Marmite has partnered with the Heathrow Express, intercepting travelling fans on the 15-minute non-stop service from Central London to the airport and making jars available to supporters right before they board their flights. It’s a clever bit of experiential distribution, catching travellers at the exact moment they are leaving their home comforts behind.

I’d say the agencies successfully bridged the product with the collective, tribal ‘we’ of football fandom without it feeling like a forced sponsor message. Does this strategy only work because Marmite is a fiercely protected British icon? Absolutely. But that doesn’t take away from how sharp and perfectly timed the execution is. It frames a simple jar of spread as the ultimate token of solidarity.

Reading between the scorelines

On a much more sobering note, Ogilvy and COGAM have found a clever, vital way to force some uncomfortable truth into the tournament buzz. They’ve launched ‘The Hidden Match’ as an alternative media outlet designed to chronicle a parallel narrative: sixteen of the 48 national teams taking part in the 2026 World Cup represent countries that still persecute, criminalise or restrict the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

As associate creative directors Marta Galán and Lucía Moreno put it, the goal was to use the language of football to surface a reality that was being actively ignored, even during Pride month.

During the Spain vs. Saudi Arabia match, the team ran an alternative, live 90-minute broadcast across Twitch, YouTube, and 88.8 FM. While commentating on the game and discussing homophobia and representation in sport, they introduced an alarming audio mechanic that gave the initiative its teeth. Every time a standard on-pitch moment occurred - a hug, a show of camaraderie, or a celebratory gesture of affection, for example - that would result in state persecution or repression in a country like Saudi Arabia, a ‘Severe Penalty’ alarm sounded.

By the final whistle, the alarm had gone off four times. It is a jarring way to subvert traditional sports coverage. Instead of talking tactics and scores, the platform uses the exact vocabulary of sports journalism (stats, penalties, and hostile territory) to report on real-world oppression. It highlights the massive contradiction between the casual normality of these pitch-side celebrations and the dangerous reality experienced by millions off the pitch. It’s brave, heavy work that doesn’t let entertainment bury reality.

Destination Canada elevates the beautiful game to new heights

If you can’t get a ticket to the actual stadium, the next best thing is a fan zone that doesn’t feel like an afterthought. Fan culture has evolved way past stuffing a big screen into a sticky-floored pub or a muddy park; audiences want a genuine experience. Recognising that the eyes of the world are currently on the country, tourism body Destination Canada stepped up with an inspired experiential play that it has called ‘Natural Watch Parties’.

Instead of fighting for space in a crowded city square, the strategy was to take the watch party concept and drop it straight into Canada’s breathtaking natural landscapes, showcasing them via an unforgettable experience; the first time a country has hosted watch parties in the wild outdoors.

For the Panama vs. England match, they set up a massive screening atop Vancouver's Grouse Mountain, welcoming fans to either hike up or take a gondola to watch the game surrounded by fresh alpine air and sweeping mountain peaks. It wasn't a standalone stunt, either- the wider campaign also saw fans paddling canoes and kayaks out on Lake Ontario to watch another match from the water. I think it reads the room perfectly, leveraging the massive energy of the tournament to transform ordinary sports viewing into a visually stunning memory.

That's it for this week's Creative Corner!

If you’ve seen something that’s caught your eye, or if you’ve been working on something you’re particularly proud of, please do get in touch via emily.barnes@fanclubpr.com. I’d love to hear about it.